Aggregated News
Sacramento -- Directors of the California Proposition 71 stem cell program met with state lawmakers Monday in hopes of scuttling a proposal to put stem cells back in front of the California electorate as soon as November -- legislation that some fear could kill the $3 billion research initiative.
State Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, and Sen. George Runner, R- Lancaster, have offered an amendment to the state Constitution that would change the Prop. 71 ground rules in order to increase public oversight and ensure that state-financed stem cell treatments be "affordable and accessible."
"There are legitimate concerns," said Ortiz, who was an early proponent of state-financed stem cell research.
If both chambers of the Legislature pass the measure by two-thirds margins before July, it could qualify for a special statewide ballot expected in November.
Ortiz was the star witness at a Monday morning meeting of the governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine -- convened in Sacramento to give committee members the afternoon to lobby individual lawmakers at the state Capitol.
Supporters of the stem cell program insist...
State Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, and Sen. George Runner, R- Lancaster, have offered an amendment to the state Constitution that would change the Prop. 71 ground rules in order to increase public oversight and ensure that state-financed stem cell treatments be "affordable and accessible."
"There are legitimate concerns," said Ortiz, who was an early proponent of state-financed stem cell research.
If both chambers of the Legislature pass the measure by two-thirds margins before July, it could qualify for a special statewide ballot expected in November.
Ortiz was the star witness at a Monday morning meeting of the governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine -- convened in Sacramento to give committee members the afternoon to lobby individual lawmakers at the state Capitol.
Supporters of the stem cell program insist...